For The Glory - Some Kids Have No Face (2011)

Album: Some Kids Have No Face

Band: For The Glory

Year: 2011

Label: Raging Planet

Genre: Hardcore / 2-step

Country: Portugal

01. Armor Of Steel
02. All The Same
03. No Faith
04. Some Kids Have No Face
05. One Amongst Many
06. Routine Equals Hell
07. Behind My Back
08. Egotrip
09. Where Is Justice
10. The Pack  [feat Pedro Batista (Wise Up), Luís Branco (Day of the Dead), Tiago (Overcome) e André Tavares (Death Will Come)]

Review

There's nothing better than the sensation of starting something new; plus, we can start it talking about an amazing band from our cozy tiny portuguese hardcore underground (underground that's definitely getting off the ground, but still underground). For that purpose, we bring here the nationally loved For The Glory with their last album, Some Kids Have No Face.

They're from Lisbon and from Porto, the two major cities of Portugal, hinting their work on reuniting a loyal and music-loving crew behind them. They've been on the street for many many years (2003) for doing so, playing wonderful, powerful shows where everyone must dance and shout, showing the people their love for the portuguese hardcore scene. And, believe me, would they be an american band and they'd be known across continents, with their NYHC raw music. But that so much sweat for their little recognition overseas is also their joker: it is reflected in their straight attitude.

Talking about the album, it catched me on the first seconds of "Armor of Steel", dancing in a drowsy drumming along with the guitar's feedback and harmonics. And then it's heavy. You'll find a raw, sharp guitar sound, supporting a rough, scratching voice, a crispy bass a and high-pitched drums. You'll not find the all-the-same production of very modern drumming sounds, limpid and covered by triggers, every cymbal sounding the same at every album moment. I find it home-made, absolutely heavy, a sincere screamed manifest.

You may also find simple, straight lyrics. Taking the example of "Some kids have no face", where Congas screams about the "bar-code" world we're constructing, where people are just mere statistic and their life part of a corporation and how we must refuse to life in that concrete world. He says: "Is the future of humanity / A darker place to be / Our beloved ones / Will struggle to succeed / It's dog eat dog / And only money reigns". This is the main theme of the album: money, interests, war, conflicts have a big ugly face. Kids don't.

The album grows similarly; in "Routine Equals Hell" you can hear a fast jumping rhythm; in "Egotrip" you will be presented with some happy melody and then, again, without warning, the two-step break-down.

The last track "The Pack" is all about the (portuguese) underground scene, where "It's north it's sound it's underground / A community help each other out / Love and respect - positive mind / One scene, one love... Our time!". It has the voices from Pedro Batista (Wise Up), Luís Branco (Day of the Dead), Tiago (Overcome) and André Tavarés (Death Will Come)

Like hardcore or not, it's worth a listen. It's sincerity.

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